Charles Inch is the founder of Inch Law, a criminal defense and family law practice based in Richmond, Virginia. He's also the founder of Trauma Informed Law, an initiative built on the belief that the legal system has become indifferent to people. He describes himself as a Trial Lawyer & Trauma Philosopher, and the work he is doing at the intersection of legal practice and human experience is unlike anything else in the profession.
I asked Charles what led him to start his own firm.
"Because I finally found my purpose in the law," he told me. "I had mentors that showed me how to practice law, but I did not have mentors to show me how to build a law office."
For a decade, Charles operated as a solo criminal defense and family law attorney, navigating the intense emotional weight of the work largely alone. The cases - child abuse, domestic violence, murder - demanded everything from him, and there was no infrastructure to absorb the impact. By 2017, the cumulative toll led to severe burnout. He knew something had to change. He rebuilt from the ground up.
What emerged was not just a rebuilt law firm, but a philosophy. Trauma Informed Law is Charles's response to what he sees as a systemic failure: a legal profession that processes people without understanding them. His practice is built around unconditional listening, compassion, and the recognition that clients in criminal and family law matters are often operating from a place of deep psychological injury, not logic.
"I was inspired to build Trauma Informed Law because I was going to kill myself if I didn't fix it."
"Trauma is not what happens to you," he explained, drawing on the work of Dr. Gabor Maté. "It's what happens inside you as a result of what happened to you. In a court of law, that changes everything about how you represent someone."
In a remarkable period of growth, Charles expanded his firm from a solo practice to a team of six in just 16 months, building deliberately toward a model that could sustain the kind of work he wants to do. He structured his firm so that the legal work is supported by people who share his values.
"The culture of your law firm will run off the culture of the lawyer. The law firm is going to be an external representation of the good and bad things of that lawyer. That's been brutally difficult for me to recognize."
Today, Charles is also developing a "life general counsel" model - preventative and investigative legal services for clients who want ongoing guidance before a crisis hits. It is the natural extension of a practice built not on volume, but on depth of care.
Are you dealing with a criminal defense or family law matter in Virginia? Connect with Charles Inch and check out Inch Law and https://www.traumainformedlaw.com/